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Personally, I don't see the need for them however, it's not my kid on the leash. I don't know the child so I don't know what kind of behavior will come from the child.

Since it's your first time at Disney World (or at least with your son), you might think it's going to be total chaos with the potential for a little one to get lost easily. I find Disney World to be very child friendly and most people, if run into by a little one whose mother is attempting to corral him in, will laugh and be fine about the whole thing.

What I would suggest to you is to get a leash if it makes you feel better. However, don't use it right away at Disney World. See how both you and your son do and go from there. You may find your son adapts to a "holding hands at all times" situation just fine. If that's the case, leave the leash in the stroller and don't worry about it.

You can also do what my sister did with her four kids. They all grew up knowing that if they didn't have a hand to hold, they held the "buggy" (stroller). It worked very well for all of them.

I would do whatever makes you and your child most comfortable. If you think that he won't mind being on the leash, give it a try. I think that the safety of your child is much more important than what others think. I have seen a number of children on leashes at WDW.

This thread makes me smile. My grandmother put my father on a leash when he was about two. He ended up on all fours in the grocery store barking.

I've seen tons of people use those at the parks, especially the ones with the monkey backpack. And if anyone gives you a "look", oh well. It's not their kid. Better safe than losing your child in such a big, busy place!

I took kids to WDW by myself years ago when my DS was 18 months and my DD was just about 3. My son was a "runner" at the time, I was worried about the same thing. I brought the stroller and brought along a newly purchased "leash" just incase he wanted to walk around but refused to hold my hand. I was surprised that my DS wanted to hold my hand when walking around. I think he was overwhelmed by the number of people and realized that he may get lost. Anyway, I never had to use the leash. If you are more comfortable take one just incase and don't worry about what others think. Do what you think is best to keep your child safe

I am also a in home childcare provider and watch 4 boys daily between ages of 8 months and 4 years. I take the boys on field trips at least once a week. one of these boys, 17 months old, happens to be a "runner", his mother leaves a leash (the backpack kind) for me to use for him if i feel it necessary. I have used it once, the child doesn't seem to mind. I don't like to put it on him, if I ask him to hold on to the strolleror hold my hand he will and won't run off. I suggest taking your child out for walks and have him hold your hand so that he is in the routine of doing so (i like to call that practice runs)

There was a recent thread (Maybe like 3 days ago) that mentioned this topic. You may find in the next page or so. Basically, most people were for it especially for the little kids who tend to run off easily. Better to be on a leash than to loose your child.

I used to be like you. I never used one for my oldest son, and I always said that I never would, however, when my second son was born I was totally for it. He is a runner!

So if you decide to use one, I think the backpack ones are the way to go. It will leave his hands free.

I just mentioned this thread to dh. I asked if when our oldest was little if we would have been fortunate enough to go to disney would he have used her leash.(although we never called it this) His immediate response was "H*** yes. She wouldn't hold hands, hated a stroller and if you held her wrist she pulled away from you like you were killing her. Now mind you in everything else she was a very well behaved child (even others agreed) and grew up to be a lovely 27 year old today. Even her teen years were easy. But for some reason get her in a store and she loved to go hide in the clothes racks (lots of round ones back then). She thought it hysterical, her father and I thought we would end with gray hair by the time we were 26. There weren't many options then just this ugly harness thing that you needed an engineering degree to get them in. Finally found a bright colored one that had velcro for her wrist and mine with a phone cord like thing running between. She felt independent, I stopped having anxiety attacks and it worked until she discovered how to undo the velcro. Thank goodness she was past that running and hiding stage.
Now her sister...we never needed it.
And when I take my future grandchildren I will use one of the backpack type if I need too. Kids are quick and can be gone in a moments distraction.

I couldn't care less if people leash their kids as long as they don't dart in front of people and then somehow trip them. I had a son that always held my hand and pulled me along so it wasn't a concern for me. If he'd been a runner I might have bought one of the things myself.

We are headed back to the World later this year, and it will be our DD's first trip. She will be three then, and we'll be taking a backpack style harness. Here's why:

We adopted our daughter about 5 months ago. Up until the adoption, her life experience was mostly confined to a hospital and an orphanage. She still does still not understand the safety issues of crowds and wandering off. To risk her getting lost is too great a risk for us to take. She'll likely hold our hands or sit in her stroller a lot of the time, but for when she wants to be out and able to run, she'll probably wear her harness... especially if just one of us has to watch her in a large crowd.

Don't like them. I am a firm believer in just scare the crap out of the kids as to what may happen if they wander off and end up living with another family. Though our reasoning is a little faulty while at WDW as DH always says "Do you think another family will take you to Disney 4 times a year?"

What's the deal with the light up shoes? DD has a pair now that I bought not knowing they lit up until older DD pointed them out.

Also what is up with the squeeky shoes for the infants learning to walk? That would drive me INSANE!!

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Oh boy, I sure hope you are joking about the scaring kids by telling them they will have to live with another family. I would NEVER say that to my youngest 4 kids because we are their second family. Well, third if you count their foster families. We adopted them 10 years ago after they were neglected and abused by their birth parents then spent almost 2 years in separate foster homes before being reunited in our family. Once when my dd was in kindergarten, the very sweet para teased her by saying she wanted to take my dd home with her. My dd just about had a panic attack! Fortunately I teach at the same school so she was brought to me and I was able to find out what she was so upset about. The poor lady was so upset that she had scared my dd. I wasn't upset but wanted her to personally tell my dd that she was only teasing, which she did.

That said, I'm betting that strategy wouldn't work very well for the average 2 - 3 year old runner anyway. They don't exactly have the best reasoning skills or memory for such things even if they do think you are serious.

I don't get the squeaky shoes thing either. Well, maybe if they are only worn by a baby not yet walking they would be okay.

We were probably one of the families seen by the op with a child in a harness. My 3 yo dgs is a very active, independent boy who really wants to walk. Mostly he will hold hands when moving from place to place but there are times when he could just stand with us without holding hands and the monkey tail on his monkey backpack was just an added measure of security. Besides, the straps on the harness are perfect for his trading pins.

I especially don't get the squeeky shoes because our pedi told us they should remain barefoot (or in socks) as much as possible until they learn to walk on all different surfaces and can easily manage changing surfaces (i.e. grass to driveway or carpet to tile) so I can't imagine having some kind of object in the shoe would be good for them.

I especially don't get the squeeky shoes because our pedi told us they should remain barefoot (or in socks) as much as possible until they learn to walk on all different surfaces and can easily manage changing surfaces (i.e. grass to driveway or carpet to tile) so I can't imagine having some kind of object in the shoe would be good for them.

Anyway yes joking about scaring the crap outta the girls.

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I only got to watch my 2 oldest learn to walk because they are my bio children. When my oldest (who is now 30 years old) was learning, the high top leather walking shoes were still considered best. When my now 28 year old began to walk, the pediatricians were recommending letting babies learn to walk barefooted like you describe.

I have a friend who had those squeaky shoes for her baby but she promised me that he would stop wearing them as soon as he took his first steps. He did and she kept her word. Thank goodness!

I suppose this is only practical if your kids are learning to walk outside where it is safe and the weather is okay. I was lucky enough that my DD's were both born in Summer and didn't really wear shoes until the winter time after they turned 1. I can see how it isn't always practical.